Me On A Monday - December 9th

Greetings one & all.  What a week, what a weekend of activity & fun.

Currently we are still talking about the Christmas Drinks party we went to Saturday night & for the first time in years of attending this annual party, we weren't the first to leave!  This year their inside the house Christmas tree was 12 feet high & 6 feet across.  It was a Balsam Fir which has the most wonderful scent about it. It took her 4 days to decorate.  We are also still talking about the Guelph Symphony Christmas concert we attended Sunday afternoon; lots of sing along Christmas carols & pretty set decorations.  

Currently in the shopping cart was a new to me CD, one of the  King's College (Cambridge) Choir's Christmas carols.  It's beautiful, traditional & rich of sound memory for me.  It is the music of my Grandmother's Christmas.

Currently we have been watching & enjoying Dr Lucy Wavey's history of the Christmas Carol, TV specials, along with old & new shows of The Great British Bake Off Christmas specials.  



Currently reading, two scrapbook, card making magazines; one online, Scrapbook & Cards Today & in the hand paper copy of Creative Scrapbooker (which I get from the library).  Lots of ideas. 

Currently the book reading is The Christmas Cookie Club, an annual read for me, it's a nice story plus it gives some interesting facts about cookie ingredients along with recipes.  In fact did you know that the vanilla flowers are hermaphroditic, in that the flower carries both the male & female organ but to avoid self pollination,  there's a membrane that separates those organs.  And along with that tidbit, that vanilla plants were in a long time monogamous relationship with a species of local Veracruz Mexico bee for pollinating, hence why vanilla was so expensive because it wouldn't be grown anywhere else.  Now Madagascar is the biggest producer of vanilla because a few hundred years ago, a 12 year slave boy figured out how to hand pollinate the flower.  Fascinating!

Now on to the week of being more of a Christmas social elf - there's at least two lunches with friends!   

"It matters not what's under the tree, but who is around it with you"

5 in 5 On The 5th

It's been SO long, too long,  since I joined in with Sandie's 5 in 5 On The 5th.  You can find out more about this lovely prompt here:  5-in-5-December-2019

My five today are little handmade, knitted or crochet ornaments I have been gifted over the years.  Each is so very special to me because of the gifter (is there such a word, not according to spell check) & the time it took to make.  Every year when I place out I have a little thought towards the crafter who made (spell check doesn't like this word either).

These five are part of my Christmas Joy. 

WPSH

In case you have missed it, Eileen at A Bracelet of Days is hosting the 2019 Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt.

The search runs from December 1st to March 31st 2020. The usual rules apply so all photos must be your own work and must be taken between December 1st 2019 and March 31st 2020.

Eileen will be hosting a link up at the end of each month so you can share your finds.

Here's the list:

1. in the bag
2. contrast
3. the way to go
4. colours
5. a garden gate
6. vintage 
7. I stood here
8. 11 o'clock
9. solitary
10. the little things
11. industrial
12. time for tea
13. a keyhole
14. flavour of the month
15. letters
16. a barrier
17. a line
18. a chain
19. an alley
20. monochrome, i.e. varying shades of the same colour

If you find any of the above hard to get you may substitute one or both of the subjects below.

Alt A. chequers or chess

Alt B. a community market

Me On A Monday - December 2nd

Source:Internet

Good Morning - I hope every one is well.  For the month of December, I'll be back posting on Monday mornings.  Our December started with a winter storm.

Currently it's all a go for the start of the Christmas season.  My two Christmas trees are up & decorated.  I've tempered the overall decorating to simpler.  I no longer want to style my decorating as though Christmas threw up at my house.  I have sorted through a lot of it it & donated to our church Christmas bazaar.  I went through everything with the attitude of "I don't live in a storage container", which is the thought I've been holding in my mind a lot this last few months of de-cluttering V2.5.  

Currently my pocket book & wallet are still intact, no Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales tempting me.  "I don't live in a storage  container" carried on strong as the flyers & email came fast & furious. 

Currently I am struggling to read a book I requested from the library.  I cannot remember who recommended; The Ten Thousand Doors of January.  I'm going to give it one more try before I return to the library.  I've even tried to jump a few pages ahead hoping it might engage me.  I've now got a few of my regular December reads on request at the library; The Christmas Cookie Club & The Stupidest Angel.  Of course reading also leads to watching ...

Currently I (we) are watching Series 7 of Inspector Lewis, all of which we got from the library.  I really like Lewis & Hathaway together - now that is the mighty duo!  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Series 9 of Vera at the library.  We really enjoy Vera.
 Mr Man is catching up on his Dr Who series. I've also started my Christmas movie watching; always start with black & white version of Miracle on 34th Street, then I move to Christmas Vacation.

Currently awaiting to hear if a course I've signed up for, is a go in the New Year.  It's one of those decisions I was waffling on, back & forth & I've decided, yes, what's the worse that could happen?  The worse would be I'm still older & I didn't take the chance.  The worse could be I don't like it, & that the university registrar was wrong, so I drop out.  The worse could be I fail at it, so I couldn't move on to the next course ... you see where I'm going with this ... it's a risk & I'll survive it, no matter how it turns out.  Lesson one & two from my church Elder - what's the worse that can happen & you'll survive it.  

Currently Eileen at A Bracelet of Days is hosting the 2019/2020 Winter Photo Scavenger Hunt.  Please join in & check out Eileen's blog post about the list & dates; Winter-photography-scavenger-hunt

Source:Internet

TGIF - November 29th

Thanks Dr Brene Brown for this new take on an old acronym, TGIF to mean Trusting, Grateful, Inspired & Fun.

Trusting: that one of my sisters, who is traveling in the middle east, gets home safely, soon.  They had an encounter on the seas with pirates.

Grateful:  that the man we hired to rake all the leaves came out on a chance day to get all the lawns & gardens cleared of the wet packed mess that the leaves had become.  He's got all the proper equipment to make short work of this.

Inspired: by one of the elders at church.  She's an amazing lady of 80+ years & has given me some sound advice about taking risks in life.  She openly shared some of her risks taken & some risks she passed on & why/how the outcome of either choice shaped her life.  She's amazing, kind, funny, loving & I think she needs to write a book.  All her wisdom & stories have certainly inspired me to look at some of my own risk(s) pending.

Fun: a wonderfully too short a phone call (3 hours) with my best friend.  Grateful for phone plans!

Wisdom On A Wednesday #2

Hummingbird sitting in my Birch tree

A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not in the branch,  but in her own wings.

TGIF - November 22nd

Thank you to Dr Brene Brown for this re-take on TGIF; instead of Thank Goodness It's Friday, we now go with Trusting; Grateful; Inspired & Fun.

Trusting: that my book/reading dry spell is over.  I've got 2 books out from the library & two waiting for me to pick up.  The two that I have just started to read, & I'm so far enjoying; Akin  by Emma Donoghue and Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher.

Grateful: for some better quality TV (time well wasted) in a few  series; Press; Poldark (oh swoon over Aidan Turner) both on Masterpiece; His Dark Material on HBO (I've read the books).

Inspired: by some Pinterest posts for Christmas cards.  I've now got all mine made & envelopes addressed.  Just need to get to the post office to purchase stamps for mailing December 1st. 

Fun: we got our online Advent Calendar - this year's location is an online, not real,  little village in the Cotswold, truly a magical place both in reality & an online version.  There are a few fun things in the calendar to do before December 1st.
 

Source: Internet (Cotswold Village)